October 2, 2013

I answer: "This is actually a mixed drink with the ironic name 'Expensive Scotch'... so, I have to say that you are the one not keeping up with the culture. The concoction is an intentional and comical performance."

Actually, all scotch's deserve a titch of H2O to open up the flavor and aroma. I never drink Lagavulin without adding a couple of drops of water to the glass. The trouble with ice is that it can water down the scotch if you are not a speedy imbiber.

Now that the weather is getting colder I'll probably get in some better booze and drink it neat or with a little water. But I find that there is a huge gap in price between my favorite "cheap" brands and brands I find significantly better.

I'm not that much of a scotch drinker, but insisting on "no ice" in a continuous distillation commercial scotch is like insisting on eating McDonald's food off of fine china.

Is bourbon and branch a southern thing? Once at a wedding on Long Island, I asked the bartender for a bourbon and branch. He looked puzzled, and said he didn't know the drinnk. I rolled my eyes, and said, "it's bourbon, with spring water." He turned around, poured half a glass of Jack Daniels, and drizzled some tap water in it. So I takes the drink, pours it on his shoes, and punches him in the cock so hard that he can never reproduce.

Rocketeer said... Is bourbon and branch a southern thing? Once at a wedding on Long Island, I asked the bartender for a bourbon and branch. He looked puzzled, and said he didn't know the drinnk. I rolled my eyes, and said, "it's bourbon, with spring water." He turned around, poured half a glass of Jack Daniels, and drizzled some tap water in it. So I takes the drink, pours it on his shoes, and punches him in the cock so hard that he can never reproduce.

There's an older cocktail menu on their Facebook page, but nothing about the 'Expensive Scotch'.

It's an interesting conceit for a drink, with a lot of room for variation, depending on the type of Scotch they were trying to mimic. I could see them propping up a cheaper blend with a rough, smokey Mezcal to mimic the iodine-like Islay single malts. But, given that some of the best Mezcal can be rarer than that expensive Scotch, I don't know about the efficiencies to be gained.

Oh good grief, wine snobs, spirits snobs, food snobs, give it a rest.Folks like what they like and that doesn't make them Neanderthals or troglodytes. What is it they say, variety is the spice of life !The only important question is, did you enjoy the drink and would you have another ?

The rough shape and consistent clarity of the ice betray that it was hand-carved.

To get that sort of clear ice on a large scale, you basically have to buy sculpture-grade blocks and cut them down to size (starting with chainsaws, moving on to ice knives, then picks).

If you look at the ice that comes out of your freezer, it'll likely be cloudy on at least one end. Ice in normal trays freezes from the top down, trapping dissolved gasses below until they freeze last. You can chip this cloudy part off, but it's pretty consuming manual work.

That is clever, maybe even call it "artisanal ice" and sell it for $2 a cube.

But to your point: isolating ice from freezer smells sounds like lots of work when you can just grab bottled water out of the fridge and pour a spoonful in. It really does taste better, it's not a hassle and not everything the kids say is wrong.

"But to your point: isolating ice from freezer smells sounds like lots of work when you can just grab bottled water out of the fridge and pour a spoonful in. It really does taste better, it's not a hassle and not everything the kids say is wrong."

That's true if you prefer a consistent dilution. Some like to taste the spirit/drink evolve as the ABV changes due to the slow dilution allowed by large cubes (less surface area = reduced initial dilution due to less surface water & slower dilution over time due to melt).

1) Whiskey stones. Ice cube sized/shaped stones that you put in your freezer. These cool your whiskey (not as much as real ice cubes, but noticeably). Being stones, they obviously don't melt or dilute your whiskey at all.

2) Ice spheres. This is a spherical ice ball, about 3 or 3.5 inches around. These are made in an enclosed mold in your freezer, so they don't pick up odors. Because of the size/shape of the spheres, they melt very little in the amount of time it takes to enjoy a glass. Nice and cold whiskey, very slightly diluted.

I like two things about drinking whiskey with ice. First, I like the way it changes from the first strong sip to the last sip which has but a kiss of the whiskey. Secondly, I like the taste of the ice after the kiss.

In my experience, the better sort of bartenders tend to be underemployed, usually by choice. The result is that the etymology of fancy drinks can be quite fun to trace. At the moment, I'm drinking a 'Choke Up, Little Suzy' (Gin, Cynar, Suze), a riff on the Suzette (Gin, Sweet Vermouth, Suze), which is itself clearly built on the Negroni template (Gin, Sweet Vermouth, Campari). It's clever...more so if you know Cynar is an artichoke-flavored amaro.

It's always fun when some English major who got a C+ in general chemistry explains to me how three drops of water helps the complex molecules in a two ounce glass of whiskey "unwind." It's clear that adding water does two things: lower the proof and change the temperature. Either or both can make whiskey more enjoyable to drink - depending on the whiskey and the drinker.

The real problem with adding water is that it has a flavor. If it's water you drink every day that taste is neutral. (Same with smells, as anyone who grep up on a farm or in a house with cats can tell you.) I guess there is some possibility that it will interact with the flavors of the whiskey, but I'm skeptical. On the other hand, we definitely notice the flavor of water that we are not used to. I'd much rather use my town's tap water (which tastes like...water...to me) then some mineral water that I never drink.

BTW, if your ice tastes "off" it's time to clean you freezer. But even so, if your ice stays in there long enough to pick up flavors and aromas, you really need to drink more.

"Burbon and Branch water" The "Branch" water was water aquired from a "Branch" stream, not the main stream water source. "Back in the day" this was preferred for drinking as the water from the Branch stream had fewer impurities and minerals in it. Thus, "Bourban and Branch water." This whole thing with drinking Scotch Whiskey brings to mind the scene in the old fifty's movie "The Hunters." Robert Mitchum "Clever Sivelle" arives at the air base in Korea (Korean War) and meets his old flying buddy "Dutch" Richard Egan and the two go into Egan's office where he opens a desk drawer and pulls out a bottle of brown whiskey "Scotch or Bourbon???" and pours two glasses of the booze for them to drink,"No ice, no water!!!!" Drink up boys and girls!!! "And," in "The Right Stuff" Pancho Barnes says to Gordo Cooper and Gus Grissom,"What do you two 'Pudknockers' want to drink??" To which Gordo replies,"Scotch!"BSBD,III%,skybill-out